大明高僧傳 8.16

8.16

Śramaṇa Shi Xianjie, styled Mi'an, was a son of the Zheng family of Fuzhou. His mother dreamt of an old monk from Mount Lu entering the house, and thereupon gave birth to the master. From childhood he was exceptionally gifted beyond ordinary people. Reaching adulthood, he shaved his head, received full ordination, and called upon spiritual teachers everywhere. Finally he visited the Venerable Ying'an Hua at Mingguo Hermitage in Quzhou. One day [Hua] asked: 'What is the eye of the true Dharma?' He answered: 'A broken earthen basin.' Ying'an nodded to it and spoke a verse: 'The phrase that accords with the mechanism of great awakening / Fully illuminates and expands the crown of the head. / Accompanying each other now for four years, / Testing and questioning are completely without a trace. / Though robe and bowl have not yet been transmitted, / His spirit swallows heaven and earth. / Yet he takes the eye of the true Dharma / And calls it a broken earthen basin.' Later he went forth to reside at Wuju Hermitage in Quzhou, then moved to Xiangfu, Mount Jiang, and Huazang. Before long, by imperial decree he presided over Mount Jing and Lingyin. Ascending the hall, [he said:] 'Niutou spoke horizontally and spoke vertically, not knowing there is an upward pivot. There is a kind of lacquer-bucket fellow who cannot distinguish east from west or north from south. What is the upward pivot? How is it different from wetting the bed with open eyes? I have a turning phrase: it is neither upward nor downward; the Great Compassionate One with a Thousand Hands cannot grope it. Today this old monk gives it as alms to the great assembly.' After a good while, he said: 'Great Master Bodhidharma has no front teeth.' Ascending the hall, he struck his staff and said: 'When deluded, one is only deluded about this.' Striking it once more, he said: 'When awakened, one is only awakened about this. When delusion and awakening are both forgotten, it is like adding more trash on top of a heap of sweepings. Is there anyone who can utter a single phrase where one surges in the east and submerges in the west, and the total mechanism is uniquely released? If you cannot speak, this old monk will speak it himself.' Throwing down the staff, he said: 'After thirty years, bring it up again.' The Venerable Jinfeng instructed the assembly, saying: 'Twenty years ago, this old monk had a grandmotherly heart; twenty years later, I have no grandmotherly heart.' A monk asked: 'What is the master's having a grandmotherly heart?' Feng said: 'Asked about the ordinary, I answer with the ordinary; asked about the sacred, I answer with the sacred.' The monk also asked: 'What is the master's having no grandmotherly heart?' Feng said: 'Asked about the ordinary, I do not answer with the ordinary; asked about the sacred, I do not answer with the sacred.' The master said: 'If I had seen him speak like that at the time, it would have been fitting to say to him: If you yourself were to glance at it, you naturally would not fall into this rut of the sacred and ordinary.' Again, having brought up the story of the old woman burning the hermitage, the master said: 'This gongan is often brought up and commented upon in the monasteries. Today, this old monk tears off his face and cannot help admitting defeat once before the assembly, firmly wanting all quarters to inspect it clearly.' He then addressed the assembly: 'This old woman's dwelling place was deep and secure, so that not a drop of water could leak through; she particularly scattered flowers on a withered tree and emitted flames in a cold cliff. This monk, solitary and aloof, was accustomed to entering great waves; casually he blocked the towering crest of the tide, yet in the end he himself did not have a single drop. If we examine them closely, knocking on the cangue and breaking the lock is not absent, but if it is said to be the Buddhadharma, neither of the two has even dreamt of it yet. Now that this old monk brings it up like this, where in the end does the meaning return?' After a good while, he said: 'A handful of willow threads cannot be gathered up; / Together with the mist, they lean against the jade balustrade.' Ascending the hall, he struck his staff and said: 'If the whole great earth is called a single phrase, you bear the cangue and wear the locks; if it is not called a single phrase, the karmic consciousness is vast and boundless. When both ends are completely penetrated and released, obtaining a state cleanly stripped and bare and starkly bright, one still must not sweep Bodhidharma's single school entirely away. Therefore Great Master Yunmen said: "Throughout heaven and earth and the great earth, there is not the slightest flaw"—this is still a turning phrase; not seeing a single dharma is only half the presentation; one must further know that there is the full presentation.' The master said: 'The sword has long been gone, / And only now do you notch the boat.' Taking up his staff, he struck it once, and stepped down from the seat.